Why Europe needs someone to spy on the spooks

Revelations that European governments have illicitly co-operated with the US in its war on terror have brought into sharp focus how intelligence services carry out their duties and to whom they are accountable.

Reports by both the Council of Europe and the European Parliament into CIA activity in Europe have highlighted a number of questionable activities in recent years. Revelations of abductions on European streets, allegations of secret detention facilities and evidence of flights carrying terrorist suspects have led many in national parliaments across Europe to call for greater scrutiny of intelligence services.

A recent report by the Venice Commission, a body which advises the Council of Europe on legal matters, states that "security services…by their very nature, impinge on individual rights. It is therefore essential that there be internal limits as well as external limits to their activities".

The ultimate authority over security agencies should lie with the national parliament, says the Venice Commission report, but it points out that there are inherent risks that the parliament may lack expertise and be partisan. To overcome these problems, a specific committee should be set up with cross-party representation as an oversight body. "It is important that members should sit on the body long enough to acquire the necessary expertise," the report adds.

Iain Cameron, a professor in international law at Uppsala University, Sweden, and one of the authors of the report, says that members of the oversight body could also be retired politicians or individuals known to and respected by the public. The intelligence services themselves would gain from the oversight body’s scrutiny, as it would strengthen decision-making and accountability within the organisation. "Proper accountability is about ensuring the effectiveness of the security services not just the legitimacy of them," he says.

The report also looks at co-operation between intelligence services from different countries and the exchange of information. Such co-operation must be "established by law and where authorised or supervised by applicable parliamentary or expert control bodies".

The operation of foreign agencies on a state’s territory should be in line with constitutional rules while the transfer of data should be regulated by laws. The report adds that "limits must be placed both on the type of intelligence which can be transferred and requirements must exist to check the reliability and accuracy of the intelligence, before it is transferred".

Cameron says governments must take on board such recommendations to prevent a backlash against the efforts of intelligence agencies to crack down on terrorism. "Where are we all going to be if there isn’t strengthening of accountability? Our policies can create the breeding ground for more discontent. We need our policies to reflect democratic and human rights values," he says.

Recent events in Europe show that there is a heavy price to pay for an absence of accountability and rules on how domestic agencies and their foreign counterparts operate. An Italian court has charged 33 US and Italian intelligence agents following the abduction of Egyptian cleric Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr in February 2003. The case has soured relations with the US and reduced public confidence in the Italian intelligence agencies.

The question as to whether the EU should take a role in setting standards across Europe has been raised by Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security. "Can we continue to rely on national supervision arrangements? Or is there a point when some form of European and maybe international supervision and accountability will be required to provide the necessary assurances that our transnational use of data is appropriate, proportionate and complies with fundamental rights?" he asked.

Cameron argues that the EU is not the organisation which should be tackling this issue. Rather, member states have to reform the oversight of their agencies and then set up networks with other European bodies to share best practice. The report earlier this month from the Council of Europe into CIA activity in Europe showed that the issue of control over intelligence agencies is unlikely to go away. Whether all governments wish to restore public confidence in these agencies by making them more accountable is to be doubted.

Revelations that European governments have illicitly co-operated with the US in its war on terror have brought into sharp focus how intelligence services carry out their duties and to whom they are accountable.